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IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT JACKSON

COREY JOHNSON, PRO SE v. TONY PARKER, WARDEN

Direct Appeal from the Circuit Court for Lake County

No. 03-CR-8483 R. Lee Moore, Judge

No. W2003-02375-CCA-R3-HC - Filed January 26, 2004

The Petitioner, Corey Johnson, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for habeas corpus

relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of

relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Petitioner has failed to

allege any ground that would render the judgment of conviction void. Accordingly, we grant the

State's motion and affirm the judgment of the lower court.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3; Judgment of the Trial Court Affirmed Pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of

the Court of Criminal Appeals

JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which DAVID G. HAYES and

ALAN E. GLENN, JJ., joined.

Corey Johnson, pro se.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; John H. Bledsoe, III, Assistant Attorney

General, for the appellee, the State of Tennessee.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On March 13, 2003, Petitioner entered a guilty plea to one count of attempt to commit

murder in the first degree and one count of second-degree murder. For these convictions, he

received an effective sentence of thirty-five years. On March 13, 2003, Petitioner filed an

application for writ of habeas corpus relief, alleging that the judgments of conviction are void on

their face because the convicting court failed to “check off the box on the judgment forms that he
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was found ‘guilty.’” On September 17, 2003, the trial court denied habeas corpus relief, finding

that any omission on the judgment form merely renders the judgments voidable, not void.

A writ of habeas corpus may be granted only when the petitioner has established lack of

jurisdiction for the order of confinement or that he is otherwise entitled to immediate release

because of the expiration of his sentence. See Ussery v. Avery, 222 Tenn. 50, 432 S.W.2d 656

(1968); State ex rel. Wade v. Norvell, 1 Tenn. Crim. App. 447, 443 S.W.2d 839 (1969). Habeas

corpus relief is available in this state only when it appears on the face of the judgment or the

record that the trial court was without jurisdiction to convict or sentence the defendant or that the

sentence of imprisonment has otherwise expired. Archer v. State, 851 S.W.2d 157, 164 (Tenn.

1993); Potts v. State, 833 S.W.2d 60, 62 (Tenn. 1992). Unlike the post-conviction petition, the

purpose of the habeas corpus petition is to contest a void, not merely voidable, judgment. State

ex rel. Newsome v. Henderson, 221 Tenn. 24, 424 S.W.2d 186, 189 (1968). A petitioner cannot

collaterally attack a facially valid conviction in a habeas corpus proceeding. Potts v. State, 833

S.W.2d 60, 62 (Tenn. 1992); State ex rel. Holbrook v. Bomar, 211 Tenn. 243, 364 S.W.2d 887,

888 (1963).

Rule 32(e), Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, provides that, “A judgment of

conviction shall set forth the plea, the verdict or findings, and the adjudication and sentence. . . .

The judgment shall be signed by the judge and entered by the clerk.” The judgment form in the

instant case complied with these requirements. Additionally, the judgment forms complied with

the statutory requirements of section 40-35-209(e)(1-19), Tennessee Code Annotated. The fact

that the judgment form failed to reflect that the Petitioner was “guilty” is not fatal to the

judgment. Indeed, the fact that “pleaded guilty” was marked by the trial court, necessarily

implies that the Petitioner was found guilty. Accordingly, we cannot conclude that this technical

omission is sufficient to render a judgment of conviction void. Petitioner has failed to set forth

any allegation that would indicate that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to convict or sentence or

that his sentence had expired. 

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the State’s motion is GRANTED. The judgment of the

trial court is AFFIRMED in accordance with Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. 

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JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, JUDGE